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16 Aug 14. Trinidad and Tobago – Tenders for armoured vehicles by year’s end. Tender documents seeking manufacturers for specially fitted armoured vehicles for Trinidad and Tobago will be advertised before year’s end in the United States and United Kingdom. The cost of the vehicles, sources say, will be millions of dollars, depending on their required features.
Sources say once tender documents are finalised, the Ministry of National Security will begin inviting companies to bid to supply the vehicles. Sources added that advertisements will be listed on various security websites and already several firms have expressed an interest in obtaining contracts. In May National Security Minister Gary Griffith confirmed to the Sunday Express that he, along with officials from the T&T Defence Force, visited the United Kingdom to view vehicles. Sources say that Government is trying to acquire 20 armoured sports utility vehicles (SUVs), along with 15 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) to assist the police and army in the fight against crime. While in the UK and the United States, sources said representatives from T&T were exposed to various features installed in the SUVs. The representatives were told the vehicles can be customised. The vehicles, the Sunday Express was told, will have a Global Positioning System (GPS), gun ports and computerised systems which will be linked to the National Operations Centre (NOC) in Port of Spain. The vehicles will also be bulletproof. Speaking with the Sunday Express on Friday, Griffith said: “As much as I would like to get all of the major projects which have been approved by Cabinet, I have to make sure the proper process for the acquisition of these assets is done in a transparent manner.” Griffith said at present, the information regarding the tenders is “in the hands of the Ministry”, and will soon be going through the procurement process. “I am trying to walk through the process while not by-passing the process. The procedure has to be above board,” he said. Sources told the Sunday Express that the SUVs will be used mainly by task force police officers since they are the ones assigned to crime hotspot areas, while the APCs will be strictly for military use in hotspot areas. In a previous interview with the Sunday Express, Griffith said the APCs were fully armoured, tactical and “very military”, adding these vehicles will be used by the army and the national security operation group. “The plan is to fight fire with fire and go into the ultimate hotspot areas and take the fight back to the so-called gang leaders who actually have the impression that certain areas and communities belong to them. We will be going in very hard with clinical precision with a special operation group,” Griffith said (Source: MPI – Hawk Information/Trinidad Express)
28 Aug 14. Australian military to receive new aviation fire trucks.
The Australian Department of Defence has secured an approval from the federal government to acquire 28 replacement aviation fire trucks for the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) Titan aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) vehicle fleet. Acquired under the LAND 998 phase 1 replacement fire trucks project, the trucks are expected to be capable of aircraft crash rescue and emergency response, as well as fire fighting support in domestic and deployed environments. The cost of the acquisition, along with associated training and facilities to support the vehicles, is estimated to be more than $60m. “They will operate alongside the current fleet of Panther fire trucks, which are designed for Australian fixed air bases.” Australian defence minister David Johnston said: “They will operate alongside the current fleet of Panther fire trucks, which are designed for Australian fixed air bases, while the new smaller vehicles will bo